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There was no doubt that Eva was an incredibly talented woman. Over her life, she has met very few she would consider worthy competition, even fewer who served to actually beat her. Her athletic prowess was an undeniable spectacle to behold. Her mothers couldn’t be more proud of their daughter. Her most impressive feat was that she even somehow managed to keep Izzy from getting arrested or killed over the course of their friendship. So needless to say, she was undoubtedly skilled in what she did.
So there was absolutely no reason why she should be being undone by some embroidery floss and knots.
Eva groaned, sat at the desk pushed against the empty wall of her room. Before her sat her laptop, opened to a webpage detailing steps to a bracelet that she was pretty sure was missing information, at least, based on her results. Her attempt at recreating it, made of greens and pale blues, was frankly, a mess. The thread was more akin to an excessively knotted rope than a bracelet. The more she looked at it, the more angry Eva got, her fingers tightly wrapped around the unused length of the strings, in useless clumps rather than in any form of delicate craft. Usually, Eva would have thrown the whole thing out, and declared it stupid and pointless.
But it was for Izzy, and this was the last of her thread.
So instead, Eva continued to stare at the wreckage in her hands, boiling in her own rage at her own inability to do such a simple task. So deeply enthralled by this rage, in fact, that she failed to notice someone had opened her door roughly four minutes ago and hadn’t left the doorway since.
Meaning he for sure heard her when she called the stock image tween girls on the website banner “manipulative little bastards”.
Noah clicked his tongue, the loudest thing he’d done to announce his presence in the time he’d been standing there, “Never thought of you as the arts and crafts type.”
Eva bit back the urge to skip right to insults, well aware that whether it actually hurt Noah or not, she’d feel bad later about whatever she called him. Instead, she hissed through her teeth, “I’m trying to make it for Izzy.”
A week prior, Izzy had inflicted Eva with this curse in the form of friendship bracelets she had made. Eva, of course, had only taken it off when absolutely necessary since. So then, it meant she was going to make Izzy one. Noah, in return, decided to further inflict this curse upon her by returning the gesture to Izzy, and having roped Eva into it in the process, when he casually dropped a braided bracelet into each of their laps. So now there was absolutely no conceivable reality in which she didn’t go through with this.
Noah placed a hand on Eva’s shoulder, leaning over her to better examine her screen, “You could’ve picked something like, simpler, you know.”
“I’m not a moron, I’m aware I could’ve. I don’t need to do any of that baby shit.”
“Well, that ‘baby shit’ would’ve turned out much better, is all I’m saying.” Noah shrugged in response, moving to seat himself on Eva’s bed behind her.
Eva sighed, picking her sorry excuse for a bracelet off the table to examine it in a different light, trying to pick apart where she went astray. Her best guess? From the start, really.
“You know, you could probably just tie two threads together and she’d love it just because you tried, right? I braided yarn together over the course of ten minutes and she hugged me like I handed her a diamond necklace in a jewel-encrusted box.” Had Eva been anyone else, perhaps the sentiment would be comforting, to know disappointing Izzy in this matter would be a harder challenge than pleasing her. However, Eva was not anyone else, and the idea of admitting defeat against some pastel strings made her want to smash her laptop right then and there.
“What’d you even come in for anyway?” Eva snapped, trying and failing to pick the knots apart again.
“Well I was going to ask you if you’d seen my phone charger, but it seems you’re in a more desperate situation for help.”
In response, she threw the sad DIY project into his lap, “If you’re such a genius, you fix it.”
With a roll of his eyes, Noah silently, and surprisingly, began to do just that. He began undoing the knots with an annoyed huff, his only additional words being an off-handed, “It’s not good to clench your jaw like that, by the way.” Which Eva took as a note to release the tension she forgot she was building, focusing away from the mockery on her laptop screen and on her roommate’s work instead.
When he finished, he pulled his fingers through the floss one last time to straighten them out, before handing the much neater lengths back to Eva, “Maybe aim a little lower this time.”
“You know I’m not going to do that.”
“You could though. It’d make a lot more sense.”
“Izzy deserves better than ‘aiming low’.”
“Oh. Oh, I get it.” Eva heard the bed shift behind her as Noah stepped over to stand next to her again, “You’re trying to impress her with this, aren’t you?” His words weren’t anywhere near accusatory, more as if he were making a blatant observation, and in a way, he was, really.
“Tsh, don’t be stupid.” Eva scoffed, “I mean- I just think I can do better.” It was a lame excuse at best, one Noah was smart enough to not fall for, but maybe if she said it out loud, it would become true and change the reason her face was flushing red.
“No, no, you can’t take it back now.” Noah snapped his fingers, smirking as if he’d caught her in some sort of trap, which she certainly felt like she was.
Eva turned her face away, closing her eyes in denial, “Yeah, well, what’s it to you if I am?”
“I literally have to live with you.”
“That doesn’t make it your business.”
“You make Owen your business all the time!”
“That’s different.”
Noah crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes as he took his turn to huff, “What- No it isn’t, how, how is that at all different?”
Eva smirked, “Owen doesn’t live with us.”
“If anything that makes your argument even worse!” Noah pointed out, rolling his eyes as he turned back towards the door, “Whatever, you’re welcome for the help by the way.”
“Yeah, yeah- Oi, dweeb,” Eva tossed him a phone charger from a drawer in her desk as he turned. She snorted as he struggled to catch it, only barely managing to keep it from hitting the floor, before she remarked, “and yeah, thanks or something.”
“Whatever you asshole,” Noah replied, sticking his tongue out at her, before taking his leave, once again leaving Eva with the “manipulative little bastards” on her laptop.
With a groan of defeat, Eva turned back to it, before she reluctantly clicked on the “beginners” tab.
The end result is messy and a little misshapen. It’s better than her last attempt, yet it’s still far from perfect. The way Izzy’s eyes lit up, however, as Eva hands her it almost let Eva forgive that fact. Almost.
“Aww! You did it! You actually made one!” Izzy beamed, excitedly sitting herself down on the nearest surface, which happened to be their coffee table, to rest the bracelet and her wrist above it on her thigh. She began making attempts to tie it one-handedly before Eva sighed and bent over her.
“Need some help there?” Eva asked, already kneeling before her.
“Well, alright, if you insist!” Izzy stuck her tongue out, presenting her wrist to Eva. To that, Eva tied the bracelet around Izzy’s wrist, careful not to make it too tight or too loose. When she finished, Izzy lifted up her arm to see, carefully twirling the bracelet around, “Ah, a perfect fit! Just like a glass slipper,” Her eyes shifted their focus onto Eva, “Guess that makes you my prince-y, huh Eva?”
Oh, she had to know what she was doing, right? Eva was totally being messed with here, wasn’t she? Eva cleared her throat, replying, “Guess so, your majesty.”
Izzy laughed, before she turned her attention back to the gift, luckily missing the way Eva’s face tinted red at the idea of being her prince. “I really do love it,” Izzy commented. She stood, extending a hand to help Eva up too, “It’s perfect!” She added, a sentiment Eva would probably have argued with, had Izzy’s smile not dissuaded her desire to. Eva took her hand, allowing herself to be hoisted to her feet. Izzy’s hand remained clasped around hers for an extra length of time that was perhaps nothing, but something Eva was well aware of up until Izzy let go.
Oh, Izzy HAD to know what was going on here, right? There was absolutely no way this was all in oblivion, Izzy’s much smarter that, isn’t she?
“You know…” Izzy drawled, “‘Your majesty’s not a nice ring to it, don’tcha think, Prince Eva?”
“Oh, don’t push your luck,” Eva smirked back, earning the charming, somewhat off-putting laughter from Izzy that Eva had long since grown to adore.
“Fine, fine, I see how it is,” Izzy said, throwing her hands up in mock-defense, going to cross her arms before opting to run her other thumb over the somewhat worn embroidery floss. The simple act seemed to give her some sort of resolve, as it prompted her to place a kiss on Eva’s cheek. “Thanks again for the bracelet!” She laughed, taking her leave out of the living room window, an odd escape had it been anyone but Izzy. She gave Eva no time to respond, already gone by the time Eva had a chance to process the sentiment.
Oh, Eva was absolutely being fucked with.
A few moments later, Izzy returned through the front door, finding Eva still stunned in the center of their apartment, “Rats, I knew I forgot to ask something! Eva! Wanna go out with me sometime?”
OH-